What Good This Deafness
by Whataman20934
Summary: The fellowship is split up into several small groups. As they try to find each other, they unwittingly fall prey to a terrible curse.
1. The Upshot

What Good This Deafness

by Leafy

Rating: PG-13 for scary imagery, violence, bad attitudes, and tense situations.

Author's Note: I'm in the process of writing a series of LOTR fanfics with titles that are also titles of some of the songs on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra album "Beethoven's Last Night". All of the stories are going to be linked. That's right, my first series! :o) Hope you like it!

This is the fourth story in the eighteen-story TSO Series I'm writing. It might be helpful to read the first three stories first--specifically the firtst one, "Overture", which is a short little poem--but you'll probably be able to make sense of this regardless. :o)

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien or Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

**********

Hello everyone! Long time no see! 

Sorry if I'm a little out of it right now. I'm very tired, and I have third-degree sunburn on my leg (OW!!). Still, can't really complain. I'm going to be back regularly, now. Hopefully, with faster updates (hope,hope,hope). Here's the first little chapter of "What Good This Deafness". I hope you all like it. :o) 

And now, review responses:

Ellbee: Thank you for the wonderful review. I've just been rereading them, and they're so nice to see. I'm really glad you liked the story. I often want to try sitting down and reading one of my own stories all the way through. Truth be told, I rarely even do that with chapters, but I read the whole thing—in snippets. :o) Thanks again, hope you like this new story!

Tbiris: You've got that right about Narya. Things aren't going to get better any time soon…(Bob: Dun, dun, _dun_… Kiela: Please stop doing that, I'm trying to _read._) Hehe, thanks for all the reviews. They've been great. Hope to hear from you with this story. 

Mariana Nimeneth: Thanks for the review! My agent Bob has located me a space in Lalaland, would you believe? I'll put up the (web) address as soon as we settle in. :o) Thanks for all the great reviews, btw. I hope you like this story (and vice versa). :o) 

LatestSin: Thanks for the review. It was very flattering. :o) Expect a lot of action in this one, because the next story is going to be a poem, and I'm not sure if I can do action the same way, in that one. :o) Thanks for the Fate review, too. I really like doing vignettes. And don't worry, I like to sleep late, too. BG 

Lady Jaina: Why, thank you! :o) I like your stories too, btw.

Alklachion: Thank you for the reviewing compliments. ::blushes:: It was really nice of you. Sorry to have taken so long, but here I am now, and hopefully, with quicker updates. :o) Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this story. 

Anarril: First, let me apologize for not yet reviewing more of your stuff. I will do so very shortly, I promise. Secondly, I want to thank you for the great reviews you've given me, including on fictionpress.net. That was really nice of you! I'll review Shiela soon, I _promise! (Me: Emblethor! Emblethor: ::carrying a load of books:: What? Me: Give me those, I'm going to the reading room. No one is to disturb me until I've finished reading Anarril's stuff, okay? Emblethor: Okay...::goes off to talk to Baxter:: ) Well anyway, hope you like this story.    _

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Chapter 1

'The Upshot'

"These rocks are slippery," Sam mumbled, shakily placing a foot on the boulder in front of him. 

"I don't think it's the rocks," Frodo said softly just behind him. "I think there's air shooting up between them. There must be cave underneath us."

"A cave," Sam murmured, turning his head to look at Frodo, but turning back quickly as he skidded down into a shallow slope in the stones. "Well, at least they're fairly stationary."

Aragorn reached up, absently brushing the hair back from his brow, feeling the solitary hairs wave back on their own in the mild breeze as he walked up beside Gandalf.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking at the wizard, taking in his distractedly concerned expression. 

"Hmm?" Gandalf's eyebrows raised reflexively as he looked back at the man.

"What's the matter?" Aragorn repeated. "You seem troubled. This is the correct way, is it--,"

"Of course, yes," Gandalf bristled. "It's nothing that would be suitable to tell you now, I judge," his gaze returned to the ground before them.

Aragorn was silent as he kept up the pace. Aragorn knew that he wasn't going to know what was causing Gandalf's brows to knit so tight until the wizard was ready to tell him. 

Just then, an odd howl rolled across the sky. Aragorn froze in his tracks, looking up at the grey dim sky. It was growing dark, but he could tell that there were no clouds in the sky. Could that have been thunder? How could there be rain _now_?

"Run!" Gandalf's unexpected bellow made Aragorn jump, and he barely had time to look from the wizard to the hobbits he'd commanded, before there was another noise, though this one was far louder, almost momentarily deafening. The rocks around Merry and Sam--and some of them as big as a wagon wheels--shot up with the sound, and the two hobbits were launched into the air with them, as an enormous gust of wind shot up from the ground. The sudden projectiles were thrown back, and the others were forced to scramble out of the way to keep from being struck by the rocks as they fell around them. 

"Sam!" Frodo cried out from the ground, in utter dismay. He scrambled to his feet.

"Frodo--," Aragorn ran towards them just as another loud squall tore through the air. It hard to tell if Aragorn's feet left the ground or the ground left Aragorn's feet next, for they were no longer in proper contact, but there were large chunks of the boulders flying through the powerful updraft with him. Aragorn felt himself shot into the air in the terrible gale as if the rocks had been a slingshot, then falling just as fast, smacking into the stationary stones, the airborne ones coming to an unwelcome landing with him, knocking into his ribs and shoulders. 

Aragorn rolled onto his side, gasping for breath, his ears ringing as more and more updrafts exploded from the earth. 

"Gandalf," he cried, seeing the wizard fall to the ground close by. Was this what he'd been thinking he couldn't tell Aragorn? Why had he wanted to keep something like _this_ to himself? 

Gandalf looked at Aragorn, opening his mouth as if to speak, but the rocks beneath him destabilized, and he was forced to roll out of the way.

"Gandalf!" Frodo's higher voice could be heard behind Aragorn from the other side, and the halfling soon came into view, hurrying shakily towards him.

"Frodo, no!" Gandalf cried, holding out his hand from the ground, in warning. 

The updraft the wizard had avoided wasn't finished. Just as Frodo faltered with Gandalf's action, the wind gave a renewed burst, throwing Frodo up but not back, then sending him falling, but not back down onto the ground. Aragorn brushed flecks of dirt and stone from his watering eyes with one hand as he saw Frodo's body knock clumsily against the side of the hole the updraft had made in the ground, before falling out of sight, into it. 

Crying out in wordless alarm, Aragorn scrambled to his feet and ran to the hole's edge. Nothing was visible but the thin trails of dirt that were now able to fall downwards, as the wind had stopped in this hole. Aragorn leaned forward carefully, squinting to see better but trying not to fall in himself as the rocks behind him dislodged, and he was thrown head over heels into darkness.

**********

Frodo didn't yell when he realized that he was falling. True, he was scared out of his wits, but he didn't find himself wishing to yell now. Yelling never seemed to do any good, he was slowly finding out. He looked up, trying to determine which fast-shrinking grey patch above him was the night sky, and which other ones were rocks. He found the difference impossible to tell. 

Suddenly, he felt a startling dig as collar of his cloak came up against his throat. With a gasp of surprise and alarm, he spotted a large, rocky protrusion sticking out over his head, and the mid-body of the fabric of his cloak snagged on it. There was a confusing sound, which Frodo realized was tearing, and he reached up, kicking out with his legs, snatching the rock's sides quickly. Pulling himself up a bit, he unhooked his disfigured cloak, trying to find a better position to be in. 

Just then, another muffled explosion sounded over Frodo's head. The lumpy walls of Frodo's new environment shuddered, and a few rocks came pounding down the main route. Frodo looked worriedly up, trying to find which spot the rocks were falling from. He couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like the one in the center. 

"I should try to get back up there," Frodo thought, looking down now, and placing his feet as securely as he could in the wall. Though it was probably safer for him down here, he knew his friends were still in trouble, and even if he couldn't stop what was happening, he wouldn't think of himself first. He lifted himself a few inches up, looking up to find the spot again, when there was another explosion, and what little light there was was blocked out. Frodo heard Aragorn's familiar cry, and reached out without thinking, completely letting go of the wall, and falling after the man's dark figure.

**********

Aragorn pulled himself up onto the bank completely, his hair dripping into his eyes. He hadn't expected to find water down here, though he imagined it wasn't particularly _clean_ water, and he gauged that he was very far down. He looked up, seeing the long hole leading up to the dark blue night. He stood, looking away from it, to the other side of the bank. Perhaps Frodo had come out on that side. His eyes roved about in the dimness.

"Frodo…" he said softly, thinking that shouting might not be sound here. "Frodo…"

Just then, there was a rumbling noise like an updraft nearby but not there directly, and the light source above began to flicker. The rumbling continued and grew louder, and Aragorn stumbled back as the rocks came down, filling the center of the river and, consequently, the hole. He was now in total darkness.

**********

After he let go, Frodo barely had time to register his mistake, before something far more terrifying than the first fall happened. Frodo's whole body felt frozen as he was plunged into deep water. 

If there was no light above water, there was truly none under the water. Frodo opened his eyes against the cold water, but it was as if the sea had turned black. He could see nothing, he could hear nothing. He felt nothing but the cold, and the skittering bubbles of his breath. Looking about blindly, Frodo thrust his arms back, pushing himself upwards.

Just as the faint shape of the far-off opening became visible again, Frodo both heard and felt an explosion that made the waters quake. Rocks came flying down again, striking the water, striking Frodo, pinning him beneath the surface. 

***End of Part 1***


	2. Up and Away

What Good This Deafness  
  
by Leafy  
  
Rating: PG-13 for scary imagery, violence, bad attitudes, and tense situations.  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien or Trans-Siberian Orchestra.   
  
For additional writer's schtuff, see the first chapter. :o)  
  
Thanks for all the reviews, everyone!  
  
Alklachion: Hi there! Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story so far. :o) Hope you like this new chapter, we're in for a plot twist soon. :o)  
  
Mariana Nimeneth: Thank you for the ice cream! In the commute to the new place, we still managed to bring the walk-in freezer along, as well as a hot-tub sized ice cream dish. I just need to run out and get some more spoons. Groak keeps biting the ends off...still, he's working hard on this story, so I won't say anything to him. :o) Thanks for the review, I hope you like this new chapter. Ooh! The beach! I love the beach! I just think the sun doesn't like me...sunburn...I'm getting better now, though. Thanks again!  
  
Anarril: To think, you apologizing to me for late reviews?? :o) You must be the most patientest person under the sun, the amount of waiting you're doing for me. I put up a review of WoW, and your fp.net stuff will get a review from me shortly, too. Oh, being stuck underwater is scary, yeah. I've been moving into my new place in La La Land, and a summer class has been sucking time up as well, but I'm back for good, now. :o) Thanks for the review! Hope you like this new chapter!  
  
LatestSin: Yeah, lots of action to begin with! Some of the stories in the middle aren't going to be quite as much though, so these will sort of balance them out. :o) I reeeeeeeeally want to see POTC too. I'm going as soon as it opens. I like Johnny Depp and Kiera Knightly, and of course, Orlando Bloom. :o) I'm listening to the mtv.com Pirates of the Carribean radio station right now. :o) Thanks for the review, hope you like this new chapter.  
  
Meirelle Emeraldeyes: Hehe, thanks for the review! Glad you like it so far, hope you like the rest. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, too, so there's more to read with each update. Hope you like this new chapter!   
  
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Chapter 2  
  
'Up and Away'  
  
Frodo struggled in a panic as he felt his ascent come to a forced stop, fighting against the cold darkness. The rocks that had pinioned his lower half to bottom of the deathly reservoir weighted painfully against his legs and lower ribs as he twisted this way and that, trying vainly to free himself. He needed help! He wasn't alone here, either…   
  
Aragorn had fallen directly beneath him, and must then be here. But he wasn't in the water, that was quite evident. Frodo whipped his head around, mostly in protest, but partly in searching the black-as-night tides for Aragorn.   
  
"He must be up!" Frodo thought desperately, feeling as if his lungs would tear.   
  
The shifting rocks settled further, one of them sliding down the pile and striking Frodo's upper back. A burst of stale air was freed from his lunges as the wind was noiselessly knocked out of him. He looked up at the ghostly form of the larger bubbles soaring upwards, like little balls of light in the void. Perhaps Aragorn would see them, perhaps…but how could he see anything in all the blackness? Frodo's eyes stung with the cold, filthy water, he could no longer see the coveted air.   
  
**********  
  
"Frodo!" Aragorn chanced, louder this time. He knew Frodo had fallen down here, where was he? Aragorn backed up, calling the halfling's name again, stepping towards the water's edge again, trying to get a better look at the opposite bank.  
  
"Frodo--!" the ranger gasped in surprise as he slipped on the damp periphery, almost taking in a mouthful of fetid water as he slid into the deep tarn.  
  
Though long in the vertical aspect, the horizontal facet of the water was actually rather mere, as it turned out. The entire rock pile (which granted, was large) wasn't more than three feet from either side of the bank, Aragorn was rudely enlightened to as his feet slammed painfully into the side of it. The pile quailed with this stimulus, shifting and sliding towards the far bank, flattening until the whole bottom of the thing was covered with impressive rocks. Aragorn hovered in the water, recovering from the shock and twinge of sliding into the pool and a pile of enormous rocks, looking down at the faint shapes of the rocks. Suddenly, a little white rock slipped from between its bigger mates and shot up towards the surface with such power as to suggest that it had pushed off from the bottom. Aragorn turned in shock, looking up as he saw a little halfling form roll towards the bank in the water above him.   
  
"Frodo!" he coughed, breaking the surface of the water in seconds, pushing towards the bank again as the hobbit weakly pulled himself up onto reasonably dry land. "Are you alright?"  
  
Frodo did not respond right away, still gasping in the air that had seemed so far, when it was within sight but not reach, a few seconds ago. He turned his head, sitting up and scooting as Aragorn climbed onto the bank as well, gently nudging Frodo so that he wasn't sitting in the slick algae.  
  
"Yes," Frodo said finally, wiping the hair out of his eyes and squinting at the man in the dimness that had resulted from the rocky blockage being removed. "Now."  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't help you--" Aragorn began.  
  
"You did," Frodo interrupted him. "You moved the rocks, didn't you?" his voice held a hint of confusion. Hadn't Aragorn seen his air bubbles and jumped in, seeing him and overthrowing the imprisoning tower of rocks? It had been a brilliant, if a little risky idea, Frodo thought. He was sure that he was covered in bruises and scratches under his tattered clothes, but he was simply grateful to be free now.  
  
"Well--yes," Aragorn said. "Though, I didn't realize--"  
  
Just then there was another rumble from above, louder than any Aragorn had yet heard. He looked up, leaning to the side to see up to the opening in the cavern.   
  
"We must return," he murmured, then refocused on Frodo. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes," Frodo repeated, getting to his feet and looking where Aragorn had looked. "How are we to get up there?"   
  
"Climb," Aragorn said simply, turning and placing his feet back in the water. "I'll swim out under there and boost you up, then follow you."  
  
"Can you really do that?" Frodo asked, worriedly gauging the space between the surface of the water and the hole in the ceiling.   
  
"Yes," Aragorn replied, though of course he had no way of knowing.  
  
The ranger dove gracefully (now that he had advance warning) into the water, floating next to the bank.  
  
"Come Frodo," he said softly, turning back to the hobbit.   
  
Frodo took in his breath, stepping unwillingly into the water that had been his prison just moments before.  
  
**********  
  
Gimli grunted, opening his eyes in the dark as he sat up, quickly turning his helmet, which had slid to the side on his head. He looked around, the greyish atmosphere of predawn flowing before his eyes in the cloudy sky.   
  
He looked around at his rocky surroundings. He first thought might have been that he was still on the perilous mountain, were it not for the scraggly green plants that plunged out of some of the cracks on the ground here. He stood, looking at his side, noting with slight happiness that the axe had not left his belt.   
  
Gimli looked down and then up, trying to ascertain where he was now. Below him were the bushy faint tops of trees in what looked like a crowded forest. Above him was the flattish top of a moutain, which he supposed was the very mountain they had been on when last he was awake. He must have been thrown from it, and landed on his new plateau.   
  
Gimli looked doubtfully at the slippery surface of the rocks in front of him. He probably couldn't climb these, and they looked loose in all different places. Still, the only way he could see going now was up. The way down didn't look any easier, as the wall drew back under the edge Gimli now stood on. And, Gimli thought disconsolately, if any of the others were around and alright, they would most likely not have fallen. He reached forward, placing his gloved fingers into the cracks in the rocks in front of him. He'd just have to be careful.  
  
He hoisted himself up, quickly lodging his foot into the rocks below him as he rearranged his hands again. The rocks were sharp, sticking at the toughened leather of his gloves. Though Gimli could barely feel the rocks beneath his hands, and was taking no notice of the deepish scratches they were leaving on the leather, he found himself wishing that some of those emaciated plants had found it in their hearts to grow up the side of the mountain as well. Their trunks seemed like they could withstand some strain.   
  
Closer to the top than he was to the bottom now, Gimli reached higher for rocks to grab, in hopes of speedily ending the climb. Gimli stepped up, dislodging a fragile stone with his foot, turning it painfully against the stones. He bit back a cry, clutching harder at the rocks in his hands. His feet searched frantically for lodging, but the rocks seemed to have come out from under him, leaving nothing but his arms on the jutting stones to keep him up.   
  
"Help," Gimli spoke as dignifiedly as he could in a strained voice, hoping that the others of the fellowship--the very people he was meaning to find--were still actually up there, and might hear his cry.  
  
Instantly, the Steward of Gondor's upper body appeared over the edge of the rocks, surprise emerging quickly in his face as he thrust his arms over the side. Gimli let go of the rocks with one hand, extending the free arm shakily, straining to boost himself higher on his one arm as Boromir leaned further and further out, until he had a firm grasp around Gimli's whole hand, enough to do as he pulled the dwarf up.   
  
***End of Part 2*** 


	3. Don't Look Down

What Good This Deafness

by Leafy

Rating: PG-13 for scary imagery, violence, bad attitudes, and tense situations.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. 

For additional writer's schtuff, see the first chapter. :o)

Thanks for all the fabulous reviews, everyone!

LilyBaggins: Thanks for the great reviews! I'm glad you like this so far. Hope you like what's to come. :o) Love your screenname, btw. :o) 

Mariana Nimeneth: Thank you for the review and the spoons! Groak explained that he was actually making little ice cream bowls for the plot bunnies. Turns out he's raising several of them under his murphy bed. Go figure… oh, and he appreciates that you like this story! You should hear him grumble about the plot headaches he's getting. As for Lenablin, good luck! But at least you know where he is now. You know, speaking of invisible muses, Shala, my poetry muse, seems to have gone on vacation. Well, maybe she'll turn up as soon as we finish wallpapering her room. :o) BTW, yeah, you're right about Boromir. Anarril said the same thing. I'm gonna correct that. :o) BTW, my address in LaLa Land is Now that's the cyber address. As soon as I get my business cards back from that local printing press I'll let you know the street address. :o) 

LatestSin: Thanks for the review. Yeah, I know what you mean. Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! Hope you like it! :o) 

Anarril: Thanks for the review! This chapter straightens out where everyone is now. Gimli and Boromir are on top of the mountain that Aragorn and Frodo fell into. The times between the two passages are a little out-of-synch. Also, thanks for the correction. I'll change that ASAP. :o) Hope you like this new chapter!

Star-Stallion: Thanks for the great review! We'll actually be finding out about Legolas and another member of the Fellowship in the next chapter, and the others soon after. :o) I'm glad you like this story and I hope you like this chapter! 

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Chapter 3

'Don't Look Down'

"Are you alright?" Boromir inquired as Gimli situated himself on the level rocks again. 

"As well as can be expected," Gimli mumbled in reply, standing up now and looking out over the rocks behind them. "And why are you here, and the others are not? I am not ungrateful for your aid, but I wonder why our numbers have suddenly dwindled."

"As do I," Boromir added glumly. "Truth be told, I thought I was alone here, and could scarcely believe it when I heard your voice. For a moment even I thought I might be dreaming."

"One might hope for that at a time like this," Gimli said, walking to the edge of the rocks opposite those he had just climbed up. "These rocks don't appear likely to allow anyone up or down them smoothly. Though I suppose some must have--," he halted, thinking better than to share with Boromir his thoughts on what must have happened to the rest of the Fellowship. He turned to the man. "Well, listen," he said, coming back over to him. "It's obvious that we seem to have fared the best in this situation. And I think it would be best for us now to seek the others, as I don't intend to give up until it is as plain as the rocks beneath us that hope is lost."

"Indeed," Boromir returned mildly. "But, where shall we start?"

"Well, I think we should start down there," Gimli indicated the mountain's side he'd just come up, with his gaze. "It was where I started, and perhaps the others are somewhere near there as well."

Boromir got up, going over to the edge and leaning out over the rocks again. Now that he looked at it thoroughly, he saw that it was quite treacherous. The face sloped inward near the bottom, and the rocks that jutted out seemed barely substantial footholds for an Elf, much less a human. Still, Boromir could plainly see the ledge farther below where Gimli had obviously landed, and he saw down further, fogged by distance, more ledges. It seemed that the going got easier as one descended, and it was quite possible that at least some of the others had been thrown that way, perhaps eventually able to climb down to the bottom. He turned back to the dwarf.

"I suppose you're right," Boromir said. "But it looks treacherous going down this way."

"It looks treacherous the other way too," Gimli responded. "And if we came down the other side, we'd have to round the mountain as well."

"Very well," Boromir said, straightening the shield on his back and looking down the face of the rocks once more. "I'll go first."

**********

Frodo found himself surprising adept at climbing the rocks, though perhaps this was due to the incentive of the ever-approaching lighted hole that was their escape.

He pulled himself up and out of the hole, sitting prostrate for a moment as he had done on the bank below. As Aragorn came up, he looked first at Frodo, then at the land around them.

They were back on top of the mountain it seemed, though their hole was the only one left open, and this crumbled in on itself as Aragorn pulled his last foot out and moved away from it. He caught Frodo's eye as the hobbit looked at this part of the ground in dismay.

"What is it?" Aragorn smiled feebly. "It's not as though we'll want to return to that."

"Yes, but where do we go now?" Frodo responded, looking where Aragorn had been looking now. Truly, he knew he couldn't have expected all of the others to just be standing up here waiting for them, but this almost looked like a different mountain they had come up to. Frodo got up, going to the mountain's edge and looking over.

"Frodo--," Aragorn started, rising also.

"I'm just having a look," Frodo said softly, beginning to make a slow circle around the plateau. He halted suddenly, not looking at the ranger but raising his hand and hurriedly beckoning him to him. 

Aragorn hurried to his side, looking out over the rocks with him. The vertical side that was visible had clearly been used--and not smoothly. There was a plain straight path downwards, almost like a ditch in the side, and the sizeable pile of rocks on the ledge about fifty feet below seemed to indicate that someone had made an unintentional slide of the mountain. The rocks to each side of the rut hadn't been used, and it was clear why, as they were naught but shallow grooves in the side. 

"Who do you suppose did that?" Frodo asked, not knowing whether to assume or hope that it was a member of the Fellowship, as whoever had climbed down this way had not had an easy time of it. 

"I don't know," Aragorn said, "But I don't believe we should follow in his footsteps."

"What?" Frodo came back from the side of the cliff. "What do you mean? It's obvious someone back down that way, most probably someone we're looking for! We can't simply leave--,"

"I didn't say we would," Aragorn interrupted him. "I didn't say we couldn't follow _him_, just not in his path. The one he chose looks treacherous."

"So, which way should we go?" Frodo asked.

Aragorn turned and began surveying the area as Frodo had just been doing, looking about over the edge of the mountain. Frodo followed him, looking as well, though to him, the rest of the mountain looked barely safer than the first section. 

Aragorn frowned as he looked down. The entire north side was flat and practically smooth, making anything but birds incapable of coming up or down it. The east side looked a bit more promising with its lumpy rocks, though worrisome briars stuck out between some of these. The south side was just as bad as the north and then it was back to the perilous west side. He approached the east side again, looking down the slope doubtfully. Though it was formed a bit like a slide, it was still too steep for true comfort. And those briars really looked like they could be a problem, not to mention the fact that a comforting ledge was nowhere in sight.

"Should we go this way?" Frodo said doubtfully, moving ahead of Aragorn and standing on the balls of his feet to get a better look at the rocks. "It doesn't look much better, I don't think."

"Nor do I," Aragorn concurred quietly. "But it looks better than the other side. Come."

Aragorn approached the side of the cliff, swinging one leg and then the other over so that he was standing with his feet on the edge of the cliff, his hands holding onto the rocks that rimmed the mountaintop. 

"I'll go first," Aragorn said, looking back at Frodo, who was looking more unsure than ever. "Just follow my lead."

The ranger started his descent, dipping below the rocks. Frodo stood still for a moment and then, unable to contain himself longer, ran to the edge, to see the top of Aragorn's head about ten feet below. Aragorn looked up slowly.

"Alright," he said. "Hold onto the rocks and bring your leg over the side."

Frodo swallowed, taking the rock edging, gripping it like it was his life source (which, at present, it probably was), and shakily bringing his foot first to the top of it, then over the side, though only his toes touched the outer edge of the wall.

"Bring your other foot over," Aragorn said, unaware that Frodo's foot couldn't touch the ground.

Frodo gritted his teeth, bringing his other foot over slowly, scraping the heel against the top again and losing his balance, unintentionally letting go of the rocks. Frodo toppled backwards, circling in midair as he passed the ranger.

"Frodo!" Aragorn cried sharply, stretching his arm out but not fast enough as Frodo went past, falling down into the fog. 

Frodo let out a shout of despair, which was quickly cut off by what sounded like someone falling into the bushes. 

"Frodo?" Aragorn called, looking down.

"I'm alright," Frodo said. "I caught something."

Aragorn descended quickly. Frodo was to the left on the cliff's side, clinging with his upper hand to a thorn-filled branch, and with his lower hand to a rock at his side. 

"Are you alright?" Aragorn said, coming down to his side.

"As well as can be expected," Frodo responded, turning his face to Aragorn's, offering him a shaky smile. "Let's just get down this as quickly as possible." 

***End of Part 3***


	4. Strange Findings

What Good This Deafness

by Leafy

Rating: PG-13 for scary imagery, violence, bad attitudes, and tense situations.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. 

For additional writer's schtuff, see the first chapter. :o)

Thanks for the nice reviews, everyone!

Star-Stallion: Chocolate, mmm ::takes chocolate, hands over next chapter:: . Thanks. Sorry for scaring you! This chapter may be a little more low-key. :o) I hope you like it. Thanks for the great review!

Mariana Nimeneth: Good luck with Lenablin. Try feeding those bunnies some cliffie-carrots. That's what Groak does. He's trying to grow some in the garden. It's not easy though, he has to water them fifty-seven times a day. It's keeping him away from the stories, but Baxter's helping me out now. He's been especially agreeable lately because Emblethor is building him a stable. Thanks for the compliments on the last chapter, hope you like this new one. :o) 

Anarril: It's alright, and I'm sorry I haven't reviewed on WoW yet. I've been busy too, but I'll review ASAP. The vignettes are sort of jumping around in time, so I can see how it might get confusing. Never fear though, I shall explain it all in the end. :o) And in regard to your comment about two groups missing each other—ya got that right! :o) Thanks for the nice review, hope you like this chapter.     

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Chapter 4

'Strange Findings'

Boromir sat up, clasping the back of his head in his hand. This ledge proved more stable than the rocks he had just been climbing, but it, too was a rock. 

"Are you alright?" Gimli roared over the side of the mountain, and Boromir looked up to see him coming down the wall on one of the spaces that hadn't been marred by his own descent.

"Yes," Boromir replied stiffly as Gimli's feet hit to ground of the ledge and he came to his side.

"Now you see how very helpful you were to me," Gimli said, in an attempt to cheer Boromir from his fall and perhaps stir him to his feet. 

Boromir made a sound of recognition, pressing his hand to the back of his head briefly and bringing it around in front of his face. Seeing no blood, he rose, the pounding in his head not ebbing or increasing with the motion. He turned around, looking past Gimli over the side of this rather small stony balcony, seeing the side of the mountain that could be approached from here looked almost like a ladder in comparison to what they'd been dealing with thus far. He approached it, looking down, feeling slightly dizzy. He looked back at the rock's side to steady himself.

"Suppose we should take this passage," he said vaguely, turning to the dwarf who looked back at him with muted interest.

"It does seem easiest," Gimli nodded, striding up beside him. "I'll go first this time, though," he made an impressive jump the few feet it was from the edge of this plateau to the edge of the next one, then jumped down the next.

"Come," he shouted up to Boromir. "The sooner we climb, the sooner we'll be on the ground."

"And how grateful I shall be for that," Boromir thought to himself, the dizziness gone but the headache remaining as he sprang off the ledge he stood on, his arms outstretched.

**********

"Gimli!" Legolas cried, lunging forward the impossible distance between himself and the dwarf as the latter--who had been standing just a few paces to his side a moment ago--was thrown back by a violent, rippling wind, over the lip of stone on the mountain's edge and out of sight. 

Legolas grabbed hold of the wall, looking over, seeing Gimli lying facedown on a ledge a distance below. The Elf's grip tightened on the wall as he prepared to swing himself over. Just then, there was another howl and Legolas felt the stone pulled out from under him. 

Gimli disappeared from his sight as the Elf was thrown high in the air by one of the most powerful winds he had ever felt, whipping his hair around his face, blowing his cloak out above his head. He floundered in the air for a desperate moment, then slammed back against the ground. He rose in one swift motion, and the instant he was on his feet, another updraft erupted under him, throwing him just as high in the air again, and in the same direction, towards the other side of the mountain. He looked down, seeing the side of the mountain rush past him, and the lush tops of the trees blooming fast.

**********

Legolas landed on a sturdy branch near the top of the tree, in a sitting position. He got to his feet on the branch, walking carefully to stand against the trunk. He climbed this easily, his head and hands surfacing just over the topmost leaves. Hurriedly, he looked up, peering at the surprisingly elevated mountain top--if that was in fact what it was. It was the location only that made him believe it, as the appearance had changed drastically. There was no sight or sound of the updrafts left, no rocks flying, no winds erupting. And Legolas could not see anyone on top of the mountain. In fact, as he pulled himself higher and looked all around, there seemed to be no one around at all. There were no birds, no animals, and certainly no other people. Legolas pulled himself up the rest of the way, so that he was standing lightly on the topmost branches, and continued to stare at the mountaintop. How could things have changed so drastically, so quickly? Though the mountain seemed quite high, he didn't feel as if he had fallen for a long time, and certainly not longer enough for everyone to collect themselves and move on from there. If that was where they still were… 

Legolas ducked back beneath the surface, sliding easily down the trunk, landing flat on his feet on the ground. He turned, looking up through the copious foliage at the mountain peak rising close by. He'd just have to go investigate. 

He began moving briskly through the trees towards the stone base when suddenly he became aware of faint footsteps coming from behind him. Legolas ducked silently down into a close hedge, looking out from between the branches. The footsteps began to draw closer. He leaned forward slightly until he was in a crouch. They seemed to be emanating from the direction of the mountain. Was it friend or foe? Reason dictated that it had to be the former, but he remained poised on the branch, taking no chances.

Sure enough, a hobbit's silhouette came into view several paces away, looking this way and that somewhat despairingly. He was all alone.

"Samwise!" Legolas called softly, sliding nimbly out of his hiding place to stand before him. The hobbit jumped as he looked into his face. 

"How in Middle-Earth did you get here?" he exclaimed, sounding happy somewhere but on the surface completely shocked. 

"Luck, I suppose," the Elf answered. "But how did you get here?"

"I fell," Sam said grimly, looking up in the direction Legolas had just been surveying. "I hit a ledge, but it broke, and I fell the rest of the way into a ditch. I'm alright now, though."

Legolas nodded, looking the grimy hobbit up and down. Other than being covered with dirt and looking rather depressed, he seemed fine.

"What led you this way?" asked Legolas, looking about him again vaguely. "There's no one and nothing here."

"Isn't there?" Sam said sadly, looking through the trees. "I looked up back at the mountain and there was no one there, either, so I thought perhaps they'd come this way."

"Perhaps they are still up on the mountain," Legolas spoke up quickly, noting the hobbit's despondency. "We only know the wind has stopped."

"Maybe," said Sam, looking back. "Only if we're sure that there is no one here."

**********

After about twenty minutes of wandering around the strange forest--on Sam's insistence--fruitlessly searching for the others, Legolas led the way back to the mountain, rising ever more voluminously in front of them.

The way up proved easy. They came to the base right where Sam had fallen into his ditch, which was deep but not long, and they walked around it to a series of ledges that stacked upwards. At the sight of these, Legolas now recalled his last memory of Gimli, lying incapacitated on one of them. In an effort to ensure the hobbit's safety, Legolas climbed next to Sam the whole way up, examining with his eyes every shelf he passed. He saw nothing of the dwarf, or any of the others.

Finally, just as Sam was noticing how sore and scratched his arms were, the end was in sight. Legolas put on speed, swinging over the top and bringing his hands down for Sam to pull himself up on. He hoisted the hobbit over the wall, placing him on the ground. Sam looked up in bewilderment at the gaping hole in the ground near the center of the place.

"Supposing they fell--?" he blurted, running to the edge of the closest one as Legolas ran up next to him. 

"They didn't," said Legolas, though he wasn't wholly sure about it. "If you and I…and Gimli were thrown over the side of the mountain, that's most probably the way they went. And if you and I fared alright, perhaps they did as well," he added, seeing Sam's despondent gaze shift back the way they'd come. 

Sam looked on for a moment, then craned his neck, looking up at the standing Elf again. 

"What do you mean, Gimli?" he asked. 

"I saw him," Legolas looked over the mountain. "He fell onto a ledge, and before I could do a thing, I myself was thrown over the side."

"He fell on a _ledge_?" replied Sam, easily connecting it with what they'd just climbed up. "Over which side, can you tell?" 

Legolas approached the mountain's edge, looking over the side as he moved along it. Surely, he could spot the same ledge. Indeed, why he hadn't thought to look--

Legolas let out an involuntary cry of alarm. 

"What is it?" Sam ran forward, forgetting about the hole in the ground, stepping on the edge of one and dislodging the stones, making it crumble in on itself. 

Legolas ran forward, pulling Sam out of the way. Sam shook him off, embarrassed and feeling quite useless, also now in possession of a foot with a large scrape on the side.

"Are you alright?" Legolas said. 

"Yes," Sam replied, walking past him.

"It's alright," Legolas persisted as he followed him to the mountain's edge, from whence he had just run. 

"What did you see?" Sam said, looking down the rocky wall, looking down the rocky wall in the same instant, and breaking off in his breath in astonishment. 

"This is where he fell," Legolas said, looking down at the mauled side of the mountain and the pile of rocks that had gathered on the nearest ledge below them.

"He's--he's not there now, though," said Sam faintly as Legolas climbed over the wall again. "Wait, you're going down there?" 

"We can't leave him, if he's there," Legolas replied, though the pile on the ledge was not large enough to cover even a dwarf, he knew. "He, and then perhaps the others, may be close by."

Sam frowned, but climbed up on the wall so that he was sitting on it, his feet dangling over the edge. 

"Down we go," he said to himself, turning around.

Legolas landed softly on the small spur, crouching and examining the rocks there. He could tell that this was indeed the ledge he's last seen Gimli on, though the one who had left these rocks and that rut in the mountain weren't him. This had been done by someone heavier, a man. Aragorn? No, the whole fall had obviously been causing by a step on a weak stone, Aragorn would have known to be careful for that. It had to be Boromir…

Legolas swiveled on his heels, leaning gingerly over the outcrop, peering at the series of ledges below. Had they been together? And which way had they gone? 

***End of Part 4***


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